Pick of the day

Two months ago, Howard Neal was told he must spend the rest of his life behind bars. It could have been worse - a quarter of a century before, another judge sentenced him to death for the murder of his niece and half-brother. Now, at least, the state of Mississippi has to abandon its attempts to fill his veins with poison.

But there's every chance that Neal doesn't belong in jail. The only evidence against him was a "confession" that was not recorded by the police, or even written down. Neal, who has an IQ of just 54, says he was intimidated and assaulted after his arrest.

It would hardly have been the first time he was mistreated - his father abused him and he ended up in a home for the "mentally retarded". There were also run-ins with the law and doomed relationships - basically the biggest disaster of a life you can imagine. "I don't understand," Neal later said, "why I was born on this earth."

This Is a True Story (9pm, Radio 4) is based on Neal's writings on Death Row. Tom Wright gives a performance to break your heart.